A student-led town hall called “Retention, Representation, and Racism” was held on April 2 focusing on issues of discrimination and diversity at GVSU. The town hall gave students who identify as Black, Indigenous and people of color (BIPOC) a chance to share their concerns with University leadership. With the ability to share stories with the Senior Leadership Team (SLT), other campus concerns were voiced.

One story came from GVSU student speaker Zuri Caldwell who spoke about a friend, Carrington Johnson, who attended GVSU and recently passed away. At the town hall, she told Johnson’s story and expressed her frustration towards the University for not acknowledging her friend’s passing.

Caldwell said she received little to no support or accommodation from the school during her time of mourning.

During Caldwell’s speech, she wore a pin in remembrance of Johnson, a 17-year-old BIPOC student at GVSU. She and Caldwell were roommates at the Holton Hooker Living Center on campus.

Caldwell shared that on Sept. 2, Johnson had suffered from a seizure while lying in her dorm room.

Johnson’s mother contacted the school repeatedly, asking for someone, like an RA, to check on her daughter. According to Caldwell, a stand-in RA knocked on Johnson’s door, but after receiving no response, the RA didn’t enter the room. The Grand Valley Police Department (GVPD) was never contacted. Eventually, Johnson’s mother drove to campus herself and brought her daughter to the hospital. The damage Johnson’s brain had sustained from the seizure left her unable to walk or talk. The cause of the seizure was most likely from E. coli and Meningitis, which was found in Johnson’s system. On Oct. 4, 2023, Johnson passed away in the hospital.

Upon interview requests, representatives from Holton Hooker Living Center were unavailable to comment on the story. 

“It’s just like everything came down at once. There was no help, no support. It’s taken until now for it (Johnson’s death) to be acknowledged from the beginning of the year.” Caldwell said. “I was told they were supposed to reach out to me, to speak to me, to see if I needed any accommodations and I did, but they never reached out.” 

Caldwell and Johnson had been friends since high school and planned to graduate together. After losing her friend, Caldwell had difficulty attending classes and keeping up with assignments.

“You’re sitting there in class, and they’re just saying, ‘Make sure you get the work done.’ You’re telling them what’s going on, and it’s still just, ‘Make sure you get the work done,’” Caldwell said. 

Caldwell praised the town hall’s student leaders Antonio Green, Michael King and Kaiya Smith for giving her a chance to share Johnson’s story, first through the student-led listening sessions on March 28 and again at the town hall. There has been little to no acknowledgment from the University of Johnson’s death, even after the town hall meeting.

Caldwell said they were perturbed by the lack of action on the university’s behalf, as previous tragedies involving student deaths were addressed. In December of 2021, Quentin Campbell, a GVSU student, died by suicide on the Allendale campus. The University took action through Facebook posts and emails with Campbell’s story and funeral information, and President Philomena Mantella made public statements addressing the tragedy. However, nothing has been said or done about the death of Johnson by University representatives.

During an interview with the Grand Valley Lanthorn, Caldwell said a promotional poster for Campus Activities Board showing her and Johnson is still hung up in the Kirkhof Center, despite Johnson’s passing.

“It’s heartbreaking to realize that your friend is no longer here because of someone else’s negligence. Because all you had to do was open the door,” Caldwell said.